Louisiana forces sex offenders to reveal their status on Facebook

BATON ROUGE, La. – A new Louisiana law requires convicted sex offenders and child predators to reveal their status on social media websites.

Having failed to ban such offenders from websites like Facebook and Google+, state lawmakers instead decided sex offenders should be required to notify the online community of their presence the same way they must notify a neighborhood when they move in, WWL radio reported.

"In today's society, people come into our homes via the Internet, whether it's Facebook or Pinterest or Instagram," GOP Rep. Jeff Thompson said. "We should have the same information available."

If offenders fail to abide by the law, they face up to 10 years in prison.

"This provides prosecutors with another tool to make sure that those people which intend harm to our children are going to face the consequences," Thompson said.